This isnt 100% perfect but should give you an idea if your system is up to running the "eye candy"
1. open a terminal
2. type wget http://blogage.de/files/3956/download -O compiz-check
3. type chmod +x compiz-check
4. type ./compiz-check
5. Should get some info in your terminal similar to mine (yes its UE1.8 64bit just based on 8.04 kernal)
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8800 GT (rev a2)
Driver in use: nvidia
Rendering method: Nvidia
Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system...
Checking for texture_from_pixmap... [ OK ]
Checking for non power of two support... [ OK ]
Checking for composite extension... [ OK ]
Checking for FBConfig... [ OK ]
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [ OK ]